37 killed, 42 injured in 3 mishaps

IT WAS a day of ghastly road accidents in the State. Thirty-seven people lost lives, including women and children. The worst accident occurred near Piparia in Hoshangabad district where 29 people died and 42 were injured. In Sehore five died and in Gwalior three.

IT WAS a day of ghastly road accidents in the State. Thirty-seven people lost lives, including women and children. The worst accident occurred near Piparia in Hoshangabad district where 29 people died and 42 were injured. In Sehore five died and in Gwalior three.

At least 29 people, including women and children, were killed and 42 others injured when a truck they were travelling in fell from a bridge at Machhwasa in Piparia tehsil of Hoshangabad district early Wednesday morning. Police sources said the fertiliser-laden truck was carrying about 80 labourers and their family members to Raisen district from Gadarwara for paddy harvesting.

The accident occurred when the speeding truck collided with another truck and fell from a bridge 20 feet below at Machhwasa between 3 am and 4 am.

The dead included 10 women and nine children. Ten seriously injured were sent to Bhopal’s Hamidia Hospital while other injured were being treated at Piparia hospital, police added.

The State Government announced financial aid of Rs one lakh for families of those killed in the accident. Making a suo motu announcement in the State assembly, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan expressed grief at the mishap and said Rs 10,000 is being provided to each of the injured besides free medical treatment. Senior civil and police officials rushed to the site soon after the accident to monitor rescue operations and ensure quick measures to treat the injured, he said.

Chouhan’s announcement came soon after Question Hour in the House, when Samajwadi Party MLA Arjun Palia who represents Piparia, raised the matter and demanded Rs 2 lakh for the families of each of the dead.

The bodies of the dead had been sent to their villages in Dagarhai, Junaheta and Khapakalan for the final rites. Police have taken three persons into custody for interrogation. It was wrong to carry tribal labourers in such a manner in the first place. The case would be investigated and the necessary action would also be taken. The families of the deceased have been provided an immediate financial assistance of Rs 5,000 each while the injured have been given Rs 2,000 each, said Collector Faiz Ahmed Kidwai.

Hoshangabad SP Ved Prakash Sharma said the administrative officers reached the spot as soon as information about it was received. The guilty would be sternly dealt with after investigation, he added.

Five killed in Sehore mishap
In a ghastly accident, five persons were killed on the spot and about 30 others were injured when a tractor-trolley overturned on Padlia Jod at Ashta-Kannod Road on Wednesday evening in Sehore district.

Among those killed were Bhagwat Bai, wife of Bapu Singh Sarpanch, Manisha Bai, 14, Dolly Bai, 14, Pawitra Bai, 30, and Parmanand, 37, all residents of Dabri village under Ashta block. Five seriously injured have been rushed to Bhopal while the remaining persons are receiving treatment at Ashta. The tractor-trolley carrying 40-50 persons overturned while negotiating a turn where a drain digging operation was reportedly in progress.

Three killed in Gwalior
In another road tragedy, three people were killed on the spot and 20 others injured when two dumpers collided head-on at Mehgaon area in Bhind-Gwalior road police said today.

Superintendent of Police Raja Babu Singh said an empty dumper was heading from Gwalior to Bhind when it collided with the other dumper, carrying passengers, from the opposite direction. The seriously injured were referred to Gwalior, while the rest were admitted to hospitals in Bhind and Mehgaon.